First for Demag Cranes in Bermuda

February 7 - A Gottwald HMK 170 Ewill be taking up commercial operations in the spring of 2012 at the port of Hamilton, the capital of Bermuda, where it will be handling containers and general cargo.

This is the first time that Demag has positioned one of its mobile harbour cranes on the island.

For Stevedoring Services Ltd, the company that will be operating the crane, this new acquisition is an important step towards efficient cargo handling: "Thanks to this HMK 170 E, for the first time in our history, we have a crane that is at the cutting edge of handling technology", enthuses Peter Aldrich, CEO of Stevedoring Services Ltd.

The new crane is equipped with a teleservice function, Crane Remote Access System, which enables the customer and the service engineers at Demag Cranes to access production and diagnostics data around the clock without interrupting crane operation.

The operational state of the crane can be remotely monitored and analysed from Demag Cranes' HQ in Düsseldorf, Germany. In addition, it is possible via the Remote Desktop Tool to access the crane for testing purposes, to carry out certain maintenance work and remedy faults when it is not in normal crane operation.

Restricted space and limited assembly facilities in Hamilton, means that the crane will be fully assembled in Rotterdam, from where it will be transported to Hamilton via a heavy lift ship. After a brief final installation and commissioning on site, the crane will be ready for operation immediately.

It was the restricted space that finally resulted in the choice of the HMK 170 E (pictured below), which with its highly compact configuration guarantees optimum mobility within the given local conditions, says Demag.

The company says that HMK 170 E mobile harbour cranes are favoured for use in terminals that are heavily frequented by smaller freight vessels specially suited to container and general cargo transport. This universal crane has a lifting capacity of up to 63 tonnes and a working radius of up to 38 m.